Good morning everyone! We’ve got some quick stories for you today so let’s get to it.
Senate Republicans are focused on corporate immunity during coronavirus recovery: their justification for which is that it could slow economic recovery growing forward, but it’s really just ghoulish pro-corporate nonsense that we’ve always seen from Republicans.
Facebook is an incredibly divisive website: which isn’t going to change anytime soon, as top executives have mounted efforts to stop any changes that would make the platform less polarizing.
Joe Biden wore a mask and for some reason, that’s really big news: it seems like an obviously good thing that Biden is setting a good example for mask-wearing, but it’s already become a contentious issue.
Anyone have any content suggestions? God, I’m so bored. Alright, let’s break these stories down:
CORONAVIRUS
Conservatives Use Coronavirus As Catalyst for Big Corporate Immunity Push
Corporations want to protect themselves. During this global pandemic that we’re sure you’re all sick of hearing about, that means corporate immunity, as described by a recent piece at The Intercept. Essentially, this means that businesses want to protect themselves from any kind of legal liability for anything related to coronavirus. It’s important to remember, though, that these protections are something Mitch McConnell and other conservatives have long sought.
Stalwarts of Corporations
This effort isn’t new, per se, it’s just that the coronavirus has opened up new demand (and new excuses) for corporate immunity.
Groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council have long pushed the idea that corporations should be less liable for their employees’ health and safety.
While those concerned with workers are pushing businesses to provide safe working conditions for their employees (which means adequate access to PPE and clean facilities where social distancing is a possibility), others are more concerned with how corporations will fare during all this. Rebounding the economy is a great excuse for letting corporations get away with less than the bare minimum.
Now, Senate Republicans are saying they won’t support any new relief bills if it doesn’t include corporate immunity, which would make it difficult to hold employers accountable for working conditions.
Please, Democrats, Don’t Roll Over
Democrats have already brought up some great ideas, like the Workers Bill of Rights which involves hazard pay and personal protective equipment that was worked on by Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna.
However, this may be undermined by Pelosi’s willingness to play ball. She’s already said that there are “no red lines” and she didn’t outright dismiss the possibility that liability protections could end up in a bipartisan package.
The fact is, progressives need to get in there and start negotiating and trying to convince more people to buck Pelosi.
Bottom line: we simply can’t let corporations get away with not doing the bare minimum to keep their workers safe.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook Kills Proposed Solutions to Make Site Less Divisive
Facebook. It’s known for being a super polarizing hellhole where you get in arguments with your racist uncle or that creep you went to high school with who posts incel nonsense now. It has recently come out that Facebook’s internal research also concluded their site promotes polarization, but top executives killed proposed solutions that could change that.
Facebook’s Scrutiny
So how bad is this issue, really? Even one of Facebook’s internal reports concluded that their algorithms “exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Some solutions were proposed to fix this issue, but Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s policy chief, Joel Kaplan, killed those solutions for a few potential reasons: one being that they were afraid of seeming biased against conservatives and the other being that they may have not thought it was a serious enough issue.
We know this is a serious issue though. We’ve seen how misinformation has traversed Facebook during the coronavirus. We’re ready to watch it impact another presidential election.
It seems clear that the platform isn’t doing enough to curtail the more unsavory aspects of their website. As long as harmful content isn’t significantly impeded upon, that will remain true.
Bottom line: Facebook sure does suck. It’s got so many uses that it’s hard to pry yourself away from it, but one can’t help but wonder what kind of irreversible harm it’s doing to our society.
ELECTION 2020
Wearing a Mask (or Not) is Now a Contentious Issue
Joe Biden chose to wear a mask at a Memorial Day wreath-laying event. That has sparked a lot of controversy, even though it absolutely shouldn’t.
Biden vs. Trump: MASK FIGHT
Afterwards, Trump responded by saying he found Biden’s mask “very unusual.” However, he had to be clear: “I thought it was fine. I wasn’t criticizing him at all. Why would I ever do a thing like that?”
Why WOULD you ever do a thing like that?!
The not-criticism-criticism is apparently because Biden wore the mask outside while not near anyone. To that we say: seriously, who gives a shit? It sets a good precedent. Show the American people that masks are a useful tool in combating coronavirus. It’s that simple.
Bottom line: Trump will continue to not wear a mask and make light of the whole thing, more Americans will die, and we can only hope a good thing or two comes of it in the end.
END OF THE LINE...
That’s it for today.
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Have a good one,
The Bread Line
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we’re listening to:
Corporate immunity, Facebook’s divisiveness, and Biden’s mask.